Perrotta's Perceptions
by Squintern-1
Summary: I love watching episodes 4x13 and 4x15 because I love seeing Perrotta's reactions and thoughts to Booth and Brennan, so this story is what I think is going on in her head. Enjoy!
1. The Fire in the Ice

Agent Perrotta walked into the he FBI conference room with assistant US attorney Caroline Julian and saw the woman sitting, who she knew to be Dr Temperance Brennan, and the tall man standing behind her, slightly to the side, who she knew was Agent Seeley Booth. Everyone in the DC field office had heard of the partners; they had solved some of the biggest cases with the help of Dr Brennan's team at the Jeffersonian. This case however was different as Agent Booth was the main suspect this time round. Ms Julian introduced her to the two, talking about her degrees in forensic science and Perrotta could tell it was in order to get the Doctor to like her. She had heard that the woman was stubborn and a know it all (though most people admitted she did know pretty much everything) and her attitude was revealed when she said,

'Well, anything short of a doctorate is virtually useless at my level.'

In her head, Perrotta thought okaaay then, and out of the corner of her eye saw Agent Booth smirk at his partner's statement. He seemed almost proud at her being against working with anyone other than him.

When they finally got the introductions out of the way and Ms Julian asked her how she wanted to proceed, Agent Booth spoke up while scratching his arm in the cast with a pen,

'Well, it's pretty obvious. We definitely want to interrogate the primary suspect, right?'

He finished his sentence with a grin towards her. Perrotta had heard the quiet rumours that the partners were more than that, even though they constantly denied it. She wouldn't blame the good doctor if she had fallen for him; if she saw a smile like that every day, she would've too.

Perrotta was interrogating Agent Booth in the interrogation room. She had asked about what happened after the game he said that Dr Brennan, who he called "bones," took Wendell and himself to the hospital. She wrote that down and asked another question,

'So, alibi that night or the next?'

Booth gave her a look.

'Bones and I are just partners.'

She chuckled inside. She was not trying to imply that in any way, though did it mean something if he was trying to make it obvious to her that there was nothing going on between him and the good doctor?

'Okay. Now you're answering questions I had no intention of asking.'

He gave her a cute smile and she changed the topic by asking other questions about the game. She heard Sweets' voice in her ear, telling her to ask about his abuse as a child and she relayed to question to Agent Booth. She saw him slowly come to a halt, look at her and then towards the mirror. She knew he had held a lot of interrogations so he knew how it worked and she suspected he knew exactly why she had asked that question. As he walked out of the room, she glanced at the mirror and shrugged her shoulders, indicating there was nothing she could've done. Perrotta waited patiently until Agent Booth came back in and firmly sat back down. He looked towards her with a slightly impatient glance,

'Do YOU have anymore questions.'

She smiled. She knew exactly what he meant and took the earpiece out with an apologetic smile. Perrotta knew that he had lost a bit of trust in her after that act and she knew for this case to work out well, he had to trust her. So, to try get him back on her side, and the fact that he was an extremely good looking man, her next question just popped out.

'Yeah. You work out much?'

She saw the smirk on his face as he answered.

'Yeah I'm pretty consistent.'

'You look like you take excellent care of yourself.'

Agent Booth had told her of his plan on how to get a blood sample to compare the evidence to, and she and Dr Brennan were sitting on the sideline watching as the team got ready to play, though her thoughts were not on the game. Instead, they were on Agent Booth. She realised that when he talked to her, his eyes twinkled as he grinned while looking at her and he seemed to flirt with her. She wondered if he did that to everyone and figured that Dr Brennan knew the answer to that considering how much time the two of them spent together so she asked her about him.

'Is he the kind of guy that, uh, you know, I... Is he flirty?'

She looked confused at her question.

'Flirty?'

'Would you say he twinkles his eyes at all women?'

Of course the good doctor gave a scientific response.

'Twinkly eyes actually result when the pupils dilate very wide which is an unconscious result of intense interest or sexual attraction.'

'So, no, he doesn't twinkle at everyone?

'No.'

The answer made Perrotta happy.

'Alright.'

That was good to know.

The aim of Agent Booth playing this game was to get blood out of the suspect which resulted in a very violent game. The two of them quickly stood up when they saw Booth get pushed and his head hit the ground without his helmet, and Dr Brennan went running, not caring about anyone else, when she realised he wasn't getting up.

Perrotta watched from the sideline as the good doctor and Wendell walked him off the ice. Dr Brennan looked extremely worried at Agent Booth who looked dazed and out of it.

Ms Julian was telling Dr Hodgins and Wendell off for going to the victim's apartment but Perrotta defended them because she was amazed that a picture of dead fish lead them to finding the jewels. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the two men looking at her with a newfound respect. Ms Julian however gave her a look and shook her head.

'You've been taken hostage by the squints Agent Perrotta.'

Dr Hodgins and Wendell started theorising about the stolen jewels and this time Dr Saroyan said that now they were straying out of their territory but Ms Julian grudgingly said that they were right.

Perrotta was constantly amazed by the skill that these people had.

'My people were right.'

Four sets of eyes sharply looked at her and gave her incredulous looks. They spoke in unison,

'Your people?!'

Wendall and and Hodgins continued from opposite her.

'We're Booth's people.'

Ms Julian gave a grunt of approval.

Ooookay then. These people were fiercely loyal to Agent Booth.

Perrotta was with Agent Booth and Dr Brennan in the conference room, and they were talking to the three men, one of which was the suspect. Perrotta saw why the Agent and the Doctor were a good team. Dr Brennan gave the facts, then Agent Booth interpreted them for the suspects, the two of them effortlessly finishing each other's sentences. After the guy confessed, she saw the two of them give each other a look. They seemed to know each other inside making them a very good team.


	2. The Princess and the Pear

Agent Perrotta walked into the Jeffersonian Lab after an hour or so at the crime scene. As everyone at the FBI knew, the Jeffersonian was Agent Booth's team but she was told that he had injured his back and was on leave but what surprised her was that Dr Brennan had requested her to take his place. Perrotta saw Dr Brennan, Dr Saroyan and Angela walking towards her, the latter two grinning, no doubt at something the former had said. The three of them saw her.

'Agent Perrotta.'

'Dr Brennan. Nice to see you, I was honoured you requested me as a substitute for Agent Booth.'

Dr Brennan instantly made a face at her exclamation, as if offended that she would think she chose Perrotta due to some emotional reason.

'The variables involved in breaking in a new person outweigh the benefit of possibly finding a better investigator.'

Oookay then. The good doctor certainly knew how to make someone feel welcome.

'Aw, let's not get gushy about it.'

Dr Saroyan spoke to Dr Brennan.

'Agent Perotta and I inspected the dump site, and I cleared the body to be transported back to the lab. We haven't determined identity yet.'

The expression on Dr Brennan's face matched that of a teenage girl's face who was told she couldn't go out with her friends.

'Booth usually waits for me to conduct my own examination of the scene.'

'Do you want to go back there?'

'No. I'll examine the remains here, thank you.'

Perrotta sighed on the inside. The good doctor may be a genius, but at the moment she reminded her more of a five year old. Dr Brennan ran up onto the platform and started examining the body. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw amused expressions on Dr Saroyan and Angela's faces. Dr Brennan ran off the platform and spoke to Dr Saroyan as she ran past.

'Flesh is all yours, Dr. Saroyan.'

Perrotta needed more than that.

'Does that mean we're officially investigating a murder?'

Angela laughed.

'She's just upset because she put Booth in the hospital.'

'Well, I understand but I still need someone to officially say murder.'

Dr Saroyan spoke up.

'Murder.'

Perrotta thanked her and the three of them walked up onto the platform to investigate further.

Perrotta walked into imagicon with Dr Brennan and the two of them looked around.

'These people don't look like killers.'

Perrotta watched as Dr Brennan glanced around as well at the people holding fake weapons.

'I...disagree.'

Dr Brennan started analysing the convention anthropologically but Perrotta couldn't listen to it so she changed the subject.

'So you really did a number on Booth's lower back, huh?'

'He had a mechanical problem which didn't show up on his X-rays. My adjustment aggravated it.'

'So, it was an accident.'

'Yes. Why? Did Booth tell you something different?'

Perrotta laughed on the inside. Why was she so curious to know?

'No, no, no. In fact, "aggravated" was, um, exactly the word he used.'

Perrotta changed the subject and pointed out the booth they were meant to go to. She introduced the two of them to the woman dressed up in silver and they discussed the victim until Dr Brennan asked what she did and the woman answered. The good doctor looked very confused at the answer.

'Your job is to sexualise software?'

Oookay, Dr Brennan certainly made the weirdest of leaps.

Perrotta hadn't spoken with Agent Booth for a while so she decided to call him to see how he was doing, and to keep him updated on the case.

'Hey, it's Perrotta. How you doing? Uh, you need anything?'

'No. I am just dandy.'

'Well, if you do, um... Hey, we found the victim's father.'

All of a sudden a third voice came on the phone.

'We did?'

'Who's that.'

'It's Booth'

'No, no, no before it was you.'

A familiar voice spoke up.

'Booth you pressed conference.'

'Dr Brennan?'

Agent Booth seemed very confused about the whole ordeal, proving he was still on painkillers. Perrotta had heard that the good doctor could spend almost a whole day not moving and studying a skeleton while trying to solve a case, so she was surprised to find her casually chatting on the phone with Agent Booth. Maybe it showed that they were together but then again, it could just be her checking up on a good friend.

The rest of the three-way phone call was her listening to the two of them bickering; Dr Brennan saying that Booth shouldn't come in while he insisted he could.

Perrotta sat in the interrogation room, the dead girl's father in front of her, and Agent Booth in the laptop at her side. Due to the circumstances, she thought it was actually a good compromise and a good idea. But that thought flew out of her head as he asked a stupid question, proving he was still on painkillers and she closed the screen shut, ignoring his protesting. She sighed and resumed talking to the father, maybe Dr Brennan was right.

Perrotta was in Dr Brennan's office and the doctor was on the phone with Agent Booth, who had called as soon as he heard about the accident with her and Dr Sweets.

'No, you shouldn't move, Booth. With a herniated disc, the splintered cartilage can irritate the nerves and…'

From what she was saying, it sounded like Agent Booth had said he was coming in.

'So the pain is gone?'

She assumed Agent Booth had asked her why no one was there with her because she answered that she was with Sweets. His reply must have been a bit crazy because she immediately replied,

'Booth have you taken more Vicodin? Look, Booth, I'm fine. Sweets is fine. A little shaken up, but really, we're both fine. Please don't come in.'

Perrotta gave a small laugh. Agent Booth really was insistent about protecting her and making sure that Dr Brennan stayed safe at all times.

'That's amazing in your condition.'

He must have insisted that he was well enough to come in.

'I really think you should just take your Vicodin and rest.'

Dr Brennan was silent for a bit as Agent Booth spoke and she then handed the phone to her.

'He wants to talk to you.'

Perrotta felt a bit surprised that he wanted to speak to her but she took the phone anyway.

'How are you, Agent Booth?'

'The only reason that I'm not coming in right now is because Bones told me not to. But she is your responsibility. Nothing can happen to her, okay?'

He was awfully protective of someone who he was "just partners" with.

'If anything happens to her, you know, that silky black hair and... that soft skin…'

Ooookay then. They were definitely more than just partners, especially on his end.

'I will not let her out of my sight. You have my word.'

She heard cartoons playing on the other end of the phone.

'Now, uh, we should really get back to the case, Agent Booth.'

She heard him give a little laugh, proving to her he was still on painkillers.

'Am I stopping you?'

She sighed and hung up, giving the phone back to Dr Brennan and remembering what she had promised Agent Booth.

'All right, I'm gonna go, uh, round up as many Black Knights as I can at ImagiCon. In the meantime, please don't go out in the field without me.'

The good doctor looked slightly annoyed.

'I don't need a sitter. Booth gets needlessly protective sometimes. I have no idea why.

Perrotta shook her head and gave a small laugh. For such a genius, she really was a bit dumb at times.

'You really don't, do you?'

'No.'

Perrotta knew that if anything else happened to the good doctor under her watch, Agent Booth would kill her the moment he could.

'Just call me. Please.'

The case was over, the victim being killed by her lover, so she decided to make some chilli and give it to Agent Booth. It was her mother's recipe and she found it always made her feel better, whether she was sick or injured. She knocked on his door and heard him say that it was open. She walked in, through the kitchen but came to a sudden halt before walking into the living room. He was standing there, with the good doctor behind him and her arms were snaking around from behind and were holding his neck. Perrotta felt like she had walked in on something, whatever it was.

'Oh! I didn't...I thought you said the door was open.'

Dr Brennan immediately spoke up.

'It is open. I'm done. I'm just leaving.'

Perrotta felt like she interrupted a moment. She wasn't expecting the good doctor to be here but she felt like Agent Booth would rather have her there than herself, and if the both of them stayed it would just be awkward.

'Oh! No, no, no. I just, um, brought some chilli I made, but, um, I'll just leave that there, and you can, um...are you alright?'

Dr Brennan spoke up again.

'Yeah, he's fine now!'

Agent Booth mumbled about being scared to move as her and the doctor insisted that the other stay. They ended up both walking out and just before she shut the front door she could hear him say,

'Wait, now nobody's staying? Hello?'

The two of them stood awkwardly outside his door, both unsure what to say to the other, so Perrotta spoke up first.

'Is he okay now?'

'The doctor gave misdiagnosed him but I've fixed it so it should be fine now.'

There was an awkward pause so Perrotta said that she had to leave and they bid each other goodbye.


End file.
